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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27689056">Poison of Magic</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/occultclysms/pseuds/occultclysms'>occultclysms</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blood and Injury, M/M, Magic, Quests, Royalty</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:13:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>21,231</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27689056</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/occultclysms/pseuds/occultclysms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Soobin is an elite dragon trainer who's adored by dragons and close friends with Yeonjun, another dragon trainer. After Yeonjun goes missing, Soobin continues train albeit with a heavy heart. But when Soobin is chosen for Prince Hueningkai's royal guard, he runs into a familiar face...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>txt fic fest</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Poison of Magic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>also warning for mentioned animal abuse ! there isn't a good tag for it, so i'm putting a warning here. it's nothing major though</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Being a dragon trainer is supposed to be fun. Soobin had been chosen when he was young to become a dragon trainer and he vowed that he would be the best there ever was. But right now he’s eight and no one seems to understand that he can do things too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Although today, Soobin </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> doesn’t get to do anything as Prince Hueningkai is coming for a tour of the school. He’s only five, so he doesn’t know anything yet. But his visit has sentenced Soobin to school indoors all day and he can’t even help out some of the older students with feeding the dragons.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s all quite unfair to Soobin, so he’s going to ignore the order to stay inside and sneak outside to feed some dragons. He couldn’t care less about seeing the Prince unlike most of the other kids, so once class is let out for the day, Soobin sneaks down the staff stairwell until he’s outside of the school. He glances around before making a beeline for the dragon stables.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he arrives, Soobin grabs some of the dragon’s favorite snacks. Different colored metal balls for each of the dragons. Right now there’s only four of them, but they are all such big sweethearts and let Soobin pet them on occasion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good afternoon, Queenie,” Soobin says, holding out a silver ball to a purple dragon who perks up at her name. She slobbers a bit on Soobin’s hand while eating the metal ball, but it’s okay and Soobin just wipes his hand on his pants. A golden ball for Rose, which weighs a lot more, but Rose is an adult dragon, so she needs all the metal. Rose rubs her nose against Soobin’s empty hands as a sign of gratitude and Soobin pets her a few times with a small smile on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dragons are just the absolute best and no one can convince Soobin otherwise. Two more balls left. One bronze one for Tag, a baby dragon who has huge eyes that sparkle and a blue glittering one for Lavender who always likes to give Soobin licks on the cheek. Soobin gives Lavender the ball and she ignores it in favor of giving Soobin a giant wet kiss on his forehead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re very cute, Lavender,” Soobin whispers. “But I’m in a bit of a rush today.” Lavender takes the ball from Soobin, but doesn’t look happy about him walking away. “I pinky promise I’ll give you some kisses later.” Lavender understands the word kisses and preens at Soobin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin hears a hiss from a dragon and then the cry of a child and turns around. None of the dragons in here made that sound. Taking careful tiptoes, Soobin walks to the edge of the stable and looks toward where Prince Hueningkai is. The prince is there, hiding in his mother’s robes while she shushes and coddles him. The dragon, baby Dandy, is coiled as far away from Hueningkai as she can go. That can’t be good.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s a snap of a twig behind Soobin and he spins around, ready to have to explain himself to an adult, but instead finds Yeonjun with wide eyes looking past Soobin and at Dandy. Soobin furrows his brows. Yeonjun doesn’t have permission to be out here either, despite being a year older.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeonjun, what are you doing?” Soobin whispers and Yeonjun flicks his attention to Soobin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You weren’t inside and I got concerned, so I came outside to look for you. Look at poor Dandy. Hueningkai must be so nervous though. I bet he’s never even touched a dragon and that’s why he’s meeting Dandy,” Yeonjun muses.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you might be right, but we have to get out of here before anyone catches us.” Soobin looks around, hoping that he left no evidence of his time here other than the four missing dragon treats.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wanna go play in the woods since we’re out here anyway?” Yeonjun asks, smiling wide. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We should really go back inside…” Soobin trails off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But they never let us play out there and I think it’d be fun,” Yeonjun points out. Soobin really wants to give into Yeonjun and go run around, but he knows that they are already going to get in trouble if they are caught out here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think we should.” Yeonjun’s smile turns into a frown and he droops, but still walks with Soobin back inside. It’s never really any fun to play alone.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Soobin grows up, Yeonjun turns into his source of light and happiness in life. He’s simply overflowing with kindness and energy which makes it hard to worry about anything when he’s around. By now, Soobin is fourteen and Yeonjun is fifteen, which he makes sure to bring up all the time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Since I’m fifteen,” Yeonjun begins. He’s trying to argue that Soobin should give him his dessert since he’s older and Soobin maybe— just a little bit— is considering it. Not because Yeonjun is any good at arguing, but because he’s so invested in this dessert like there won’t be dessert again tomorrow. They sit across from each other in the dining hall, Yeonjun giving his passionate speech of why he needs more chocolate cake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin sort of zones out and chooses to stare at Yeonjun’s nose instead. How can a nose be so boopable? So perfectly shaped and button-like? Okay, maybe Soobin skipped over the fact that he has a large crush on Yeonjun and if giving him extra dessert will make him light up and give Soobin a huge smile, then it’s worth it. Besides, Soobin doesn’t even like chocolate cake that much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, cake is yours,” Soobin says, cutting off Yeonjun in the middle of his sentence. He opens his mouth to complain about Soobin interrupting him, then realized he got the cake in the end, so he reaches forward and pulls it across to his side of the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I take it my arguing skills weren’t what convinced you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope, I just wanted to see how long you would try to argue that being fifteen somehow gave you superpowers or whatever and it was much longer than I thought,” Soobin replies and Yeonjun pouts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey!” Yeonjun takes another bite of cake and grumbles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Close your mouth when you’re eating,” Soobin says and Yeonjun only pouts harder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re being a butt,” Yeonjun mumbles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are we eight again?” Soobin asks and Yeonjun gasps, affronted by the implication that he is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> fifteen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t believe you would say such a thing,” Yeonjun exclaims, drawing the attention of other students. Soobin doesn’t really like all of the attention, but Yeonjun’s reactions are too funny for him to stop. “I will have you know—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That you are fifteen?” Soobin finishes and Yeonjun’s eyes go wide.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did you know I was going to say that?” Yeonjun asks, completely genuine. Soobin can’t take it anymore and bursts out laughing. “I’m serious. Soobin, tell me.” Soobin can’t get any words out through his laughter, so Yeonjun returns to his cake, giving Soobin dirty looks every few seconds which only makes Soobin laugh harder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeonjun, stop, I’m gonna get a cramp from laughing so much,” Soobin forces out, wiping tears from his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hope you do!” Yeonjun slams his hand down on the table for effect and Soobin just can’t take it anymore. He puts his head in his hands and tries to stop laughing. Deep breath in, deep breath out. “This is unbelievable.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, at least you got cake,” Soobin points out. After dinner, they’d have to go back to their dorms and Yeonjun sleeps one room away from Soobin as he’s a year older. That’s another thing that Yeonjun will never let Soobin forget, but it’s honestly not even that annoying anymore. It’s more like endearing now and Soobin feels his heart do that funky thing where it almost stops for a second and Soobin thinks he’s dying, but in reality he’s just whipped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But at what cost?” Yeonjun stares off dramatically into the distance and Soobin has to hold back any more rounds of laughter. “Soobin.” Yeonjun reaches across the table and grabs one of Soobin’s hands, placing his on top of Soobin’s. “Look at me.” Soobin does as asked, biting the inside of his cheek. “At what cost?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t—” Soobin bursts into laughter again and Yeonjun leans away, looking around the room for someone to abandon Soobin for. “Wait, I know what cost.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, do you now?” Yeonjun asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The cost is me laughing at you.” Yeonjun stares at Soobin, eyeing him suspiciously and Soobin gives the best uwu eyes that he can and Yeonjun nods slowly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, I will accept this.” Yeonjun shoves the rest of the cake into his mouth with one bite. “To our room.” Soobin can barely understand Yeonjun with all the cake in his mouth, but he doesn’t care. They both stand up and walk out of the dining room, Soobin still trying to fully recover from his giggles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you done with your cake now?” Soobin asks and Yeonjun shakes his head. “Do you have any homework left or can we relax in the common room?” Yeonjun shakes his head and then nods. “Okay wait let me ask that as a yes or no question. Do you want to hang out in the common room with me?” Yeonjun nods and swallows the last bit of cake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Only if I can smell your hair,” Yeonjun decides. Soobin has no idea why Yeonjun is so convinced that he smells so good. But it’s been like this forever. Even after jousting practice where Soobin is dripping sweat and arguably disgusting, Yeonjun will say something like ‘let me get a whiff.’ Just another day with Yeonjun as his best friend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you say so,” Soobin replies. “I still don’t understand why I smell so good to you. Smell someone else for a change.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But they don’t smell good, you do. Enough said.” Looks like this mystery remains unsolved for another day. They reach the entrance to their dorms and Yeojun opens the door, holding it open for Soobin. He claims that it’s polite to let babies go through doors first even though there is no expression anywhere with any sort of wording like that, but Soobin goes along with it anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He walks into the main room of the dorm and plops down on one of the couches, Yeonjun sitting next to him, hip to hip. For a moment, they sit like that, then Yeonjun puts his legs in Soobin’s lap and wraps his arms around Soobin’s shoulders, pulling himself as close to Soobin as he can manage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t see how this is comfortable for you,” Soobin says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up, I love you.” Yeonjun doesn’t say love all that often. Except when talking about Soobin, chocolate cake or dragons. That’s a pretty short list if Soobin really thinks about it. And Yeonjun never says love when it makes sense to say it. Only whenever he feels like it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you too.” There’s an extra weight to Soobin’s words, but Yeonjun doesn’t know that. No one knows that. And Soobin is okay with things being like that.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Soobin wakes up in the middle of the night, feeling like something is very wrong. He can’t place his finger on it, but he sits straight up in a cold sweat. His first thought is Yeonjun, so he gets up out of bed carefully, trying not to wake any of the people sleeping on nearby beds and walks over to Yeonjun’s room. He presses his ear against the door and hears nothing, but opens the door just to be sure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stepping inside, Soobin sees nothing that raises alarms. Except when he gets to Yeonjun’s bed. He’s not there. Now this in itself isn’t a red flag. Because this is Yeonjun, he might be in the common area reading or doing cartwheels.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But the window is open. Soobin walks over to the window. Why would anyone leave a window open in the middle of winter? It doesn’t snow out here, but it certainly gets cold. Glancing at the lock, Soobin sees that it’s been broken. This can’t be good.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin leans his head out of the window, looking for someone, stories below. He doesn’t see even a hint of movement. But the broken window lock makes him nervous. Does he wake someone up? Are they just going to tell him to go back to bed? Fuck, but this is Yeonjun, the boy Soobin would slay a dragon for.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay, one more check down in the common area and if Yeonjun isn’t there then Soobin is going to go wake up Renjun or Mark. Soobin quickly tiptoes out of the room and down the stairs to the common room. There’s no one there, but the lights are left on at half strength. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeonjun?” Soobin calls. His voice echoes around the room, but there’s no response. Fuck. Okay, he doesn’t care anymore if he’s overreacting. Time to go get Mark. Soobin heads back up the stairs and looks around Yeonjun’s room for Mark. Eventually Soobin finds him and shakes him awake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soobin?” Mark’s voice is groggy and he rubs at his eyes to get a better look at Soobin. “It’s the middle of the night, what’s going on?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeonjun is missing and I just looked around and there’s no sign of him anywhere,” Soobin rushes out, still whispering for the sake of the other kids in the room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What if he just snuck out?” Mark asks, sitting up properly. “I know Yeonjun and that’s the kind of thing that he would do.” Mark shivers and glances towards the window. “Why would someone leave that open?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The lock on the window is broken,” Soobin says and Mark looks back at Soobin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, let’s wake everyone up then.” Mark stands up and yawns before walking to the front of the room, close by the door. “Attention!” People start sitting up and one person throws a pillow at Mark who chucks it back. “The window lock was broken and Yeonjun is missing, so fess up if one of you fucked with the window.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was the last one to bed,” Yukhei says with a yawn. “So unless someone else broke the lock, it was closed at bed time.” No one else disputes this and Soobin’s stomach turns. Yeonjun is definitely missing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go wake up everyone else, we need to find Yeonjun.” </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Soobin scours all night for Yeonjun, but the sun rises and no one seems to know a thing about Yeonjun’s disappearance. The lock was broken from the outside and Yeonjun’s things are all exactly as he left them. Not even one of his jackets is missing. Like he upped and left in his pajamas.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the end of the day, no one has any sort of leads. Soobin can barely pay attention in class, so once he’s free from class, Soobin goes to visit his favorite dragons. Lavender perks up immediately when she sees Soobin and he smiles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi Lavender, would you like a kiss?” Soobin asks. Dragons are uncomplicated creatures and they are all Soobin can deal with right now. Lavender sticks her head out and preens for a kiss. Soobin laughs and gives her a kiss on the top of her head. Dandy makes some form of whining from the opposite side of the stables, so Soobin walks over, assuming that Dandy just needs something to eat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Dandy looks orange. Normally her scales are a soft yellow and they should be in perfect condition as Dandy only just became a full size dragon this year. But instead she looks sick. Soobin has never seen something like this before. Even when dragons get under the weather, their scales don’t change color. Soobin coaxes Dandy to stick out her head, so he can get a good look at her. There’s a single plucked scale from the back of her neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin leans over the wooden gate and looks to see if maybe the scale had fallen out, but he doesn’t see anything. This is really not good. He gives Dandy a quick pet before dashing out of the stables to try and find some adult. Soobin spots Taeyong in the fields, laying things out for an afternoon class presumably.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Taeyong!” Soobin screams and Taeyong spins around, dropping his clipboard. “Something is wrong with Dandy!” Taeyong jogs over to Soobin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s going on?” Taeyong asks. “What’s wrong with Dandy?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s turned orange,” Soobin replies and Taeyong’s brows furrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not normal,” Taeyong mutters. “Okay, let me take a look at her.” They hurriedly walk back into the stables and Taeyong gasps when he sees Dandy. “This is really bad. Soobin, I need you to go run inside and find Kun alright? Or any other doctors here because Dandy is really really sick.” Soobin nods and goes off running back towards the school. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finds Kun easily and brings him along with one of the formal doctors, Jin, outside. Soobin is forced to stay outside of the stable while they look at Dandy, but he catches words here and there. Things like ‘poison,’ ‘disease,’ and ‘death.’ It certainly freaks Soobin out and with Yeonjun missing, everything feels so hopeless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin sits down on the grass and looks up at the clear blue sky. He makes a promise to himself in that moment. A promise to grow up and become the best knight that there ever was to protect people like Yeonjun and dragons like Dandy from ever having anything bad happen to them. It’s a bit of a grand goal, but Soobin is going to shoot for the stars. That’s the only way he’ll ever be able to get through this.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Soobin grows up, he rises to the top of his class. By now he’s the ripe age of nineteen, nearly twenty. Yeonjun never resurfaces, but Soobin never stops loving and thinking about him. Not typically one for prayer, Soobin takes up meditation to speak to Yeonjun in a way, letting him know that he’s still here. Clearing his mind to formulate well wishes for Yeonjun wherever he may be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dandy dies and Soobin insists upon having a proper funeral for her. A poison of some sort ends up being the cause of death, but it’s not like cyanide or something similar. Dandy created the poison all on her own. And since then Tag has also gotten sick, but is still kicking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin has worked with Kun specifically to try and figure out why such a thing is happening. Lavender and the other dragons aren’t affected by it at all— it’s only happening to baby dragons when they grow up. Granted, Tag showed symptoms after Dandy, but still within the same time frame.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s all quite mind boggling, but Soobin is about to graduate from the dragon academy. He’s completed nearly every class one can take and gets along well with all types of dragons. A model student really. He’s about to become an official dragon trainer and knight. Not everyone who graduates here becomes both. Some are only knights, having not quite clicked dragons in the way that trainers have to and some chose only to become dragon trainers, having a calling to animals, but not people.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One of the things that Soobin grows to detest about being a dragon trainer was learning how to remove the scales of a dragon. The scales are important to create magic, something Soobin has grown up shielded from so he doesn’t become dependent on it. Hence why he sees the dragon’s scales as something that shouldn’t be taken from them until they have died naturally. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After Dandy died, Soobin offered to help prepare her for burial, which required removing the scales which never turned back to yellow. Soobin carries one of them with him at all times to remind him of why dragons need protecting. During that process, him and Kun discovered something about Dandy’s scales—they had far more potential magic in them than a normal dragon. Four times as much, to be exact. Which makes it look like Dandy poisoned herself with magic. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin needs to think about something else. His mind is clearly all over the place and he should be much more focused on packing up some of his things to make the transition out of school easier on himself. But he stares at the suitcase, still empty. He isn’t sure if he’s ready to leave this place behind. Even though he wants to be out there where he can help and do his duties best, Soobin isn’t ready to give up all the positive feelings and memories that come with this place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How’s packing coming?” Renjun asks, walking into the room and leaning against the door frame. Renjun is the closest thing Soobin has to a best friend, even if they aren’t as close as Renjun is with Jeno.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not great,” Soobin admits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wanna tell me why?” Renjun walks over to Soobin’s bed and takes a seat on the edge. “I know this is a rough transition, especially for you, but trust me. Everything is going to work out in the end.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I know that, but I don’t even know where I’m going after this yet.” Soobin stares down at his suitcase again. It’s certainly mocking him, asking him to fill it with his belongings. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The list of assignments has already been posted,” Renjun says. “I’m surprised you weren’t the first one there to look.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It must have slipped my mind.” Soobin stands up, anxious to go look now. He has no idea where he’ll be assigned, but it’s still exciting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on, let's go look.” Soobin bounces out of the room and down the stairs to the common area where there’s already a cluster of students looking at the list. Once he gets to the front, he sees that there are two students who were accepted into the prince’s guard, the highest level one can get to right after graduating.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Holy fuck.” Soobin turns to Renjun and they cheer. They move away from the cluster of students but don’t stop their celebration. “I can’t believe that we did it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We did it!” Renjun exclaims. “Isn’t this so exciting?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s unbelievable,” Soobin says, taking a seat on one of the sofas spread across the floor. He really needs a moment to think about what this is going to mean for him. He finally gets to be a knight for the prince of the nation. That’s such a crazy thing to think about. “Okay, but when do we start, because we’re all leaving here in a few days but I don’t think we’re starting immediately.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, we’re going to the capital and then we have a week or so before they start to train us. We’ve already done a lot of training here, but they have to make sure that all the soldiers are on the same level.” Soobin nods. He sort of knew all of this, but his mind has really been in the clouds recently with the thought of graduating.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t wait.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Neither can I.”</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Soobin finally finishes packing his things and finds Renjun waiting for him once he does. Today is the day after their formal graduation ceremony, and they now have to make their way to the capital. Apparently they’ll be staying with the rest of the new trainees for the prince’s guard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ready?” Renjun asks and Soobin takes a deep breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’m ready.” Renjun extends his hand to Soobin who takes it. In Soobin’s other hand is his bag and he feels prepared to take the final step out of school.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They walk hand in hand all the way to the front gates of the school where there’s a carriage waiting for them. Soobin places his bag in the back and climbs into the carriage with Renjun. There’s a bit of mist in the air and Soobin takes in a deep breath before closing the door behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s a bubble of anxiety in his stomach, but it’s not that bad. Just enough to where he’s on alert the first half of the ride. Renjun conks out next to him after an hour, but Soobin just stares out the window, watching the trees scroll by. It’s at least four more hours to the capital, so Soobin knows he should try to sleep now as sleep won’t come easily once he’s somewhere new.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The idea of seeing active magic makes his skin tingle. He’s never seen anyone perform it, mainly because he doesn’t remember anything prior to coming to the academy. And considering that magic is supposed to be used sparingly on top of that. Soobin doesn’t like the thought of dragons being used for their magic, but taking it after they have died really seems like the best compromise that they could reach. Honestly, if Soobin had magic in him or something, he wouldn’t care what someone does with it once he’s dead. He literally can’t care. He’d be dead. But enough dark thoughts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin looks over at Renjun, sleeping peacefully. Maybe he can try to sleep now. The ball of anxiety has fizzled out quite a bit, allowing him to relax. The lull of the carriage certainly isn’t making it any easier to keep his eyes open.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He drifts off, dreaming of cobblestone roads, magic and Prince Hueningkai who he’ll soon begin to serve.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wake up, Soobin.” Soobin opens his eyes, seeing Renjun right in front of him, gently shaking him awake. “We’re here.” That shoots Soobin awake and he’s sitting up within seconds. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t believe it,” Soobin mumbles. The carriage comes to a stop right then and Soobin clammers to open the door and see the capital for the first time. He stands on the stone road and looks up at the palace, raised above the city on pillars. Everything is shades of pink, blue, and purple. It feels like something out of a fairytale and Soobin is ready to begin his own story. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Renjun and Soobin grab their belongings and follow the instructions of the driver to go towards the palace and turn in once they see a brown sign with a witch’s caldron on it. Strange, but whatever. They walk around in awe, trying not to get distracted by the things in windows and the people they see around them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think that’s where we are supposed to go,” Renjun says, pointing up at a sign that fits the drivers description. The windows are a hazy opaque purple, so Soobin can’t see anything inside. The door is open just a crack, so he takes the handle and pulls open the door, revealing a dark room in green and purple.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Am I expecting you?” A voice asks from inside. Soobin can’t tell who spoke, so he takes a confident step inside and lets his eyes adjust to the darkness, seeing the faint outline of the stranger behind a black table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Choi Soobin and this is Huang Renjun. We were sent here from the academy,” Soobin explains. Then with the snap of a finger, the door slams shut behind him and lanterns from above turn on, making everything much more visible with a yellow tinge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Kim Doyoung.” The stranger looks at Soobin and Renjun with a bit of disdain. “I don’t know you two by name, but I was told that the academy would be sending two of its finest. Taeyong spoke highly of both of you, so I’m curious to see what skills you have.” Doyoung stands, imposing, but Soobin keeps his chin held high. “Walk with me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two of them follow Doyoung behind the black table and down a narrow corridor. They reach the end of the hall and are presented with a door on either side and a staircase directly in front of them. Doyoung moves to the side before gesturing towards the stairs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Since you two arrived first, you may take the upper tower room,” Doyoung says. “I’d rather not have to pick favorites so early on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks,” Soobin replies, walking up the staircase. With each step, he feels as though the hallway is getting smaller, but eventually it opens up again to a single open room with a bed on either wall. There’s two dressers as well, but that's it. “This is quaint.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Better than sleeping on the floor or something,” Renjun points out, setting his things on one of the beds. There’s more windows on Soobin’s side which is fine by him. He sets his bag on the floor and walks over to the windows, looking out to see what he can see. The palace is the first thing he spots, so much closer than he thought it was going to be. There’s also many smaller buildings all around and as the sun is getting closer to the edge of the horizon everything looks like it's from a painting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s so pretty here,” Soobin mumbles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me see.” Renjun comes up behind Soobin and peaks out over his shoulder. “Ooh, you’re right. But that skyline isn’t about to feed me.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are we really going to ask Doyoung to feed us?” Soobin asks, turning away from the window.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, fair enough, but we don’t have any food with us nor do we have money.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, lets go bug Doyoung.” The two of them head back down the narrow stairs and come back to the other two doors, one of them open just a crack and Renjun leans his head over, taking a peek inside. Soobin is about to grab Renjun’s arm because they shouldn’t be prying into the privacy of other knights. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, I’m Renjun and this is Soobin,” Renjun introduces, pulling Soobin into the room. It has the same type of furniture, but the room makes a half circle, curving around the tower. The two across from them are sitting on one bed, clearly having been talking before Renjun barged in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Jeno and this is Jaemin.” Jeno has white blonde hair while Jaemin’s is a light blonde with blue bangs. They both look up at Soobin and Renjun slightly strangely and Soobin doesn’t know if that has something to do with them being from the academy or Jeno and Jaemin just don’t like them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, we’re here to look for food and were wondering if you’d like to come with,” Renjun says confidently. He’s really not letting the vibes get him down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I could use something to eat,” Jaemin agrees, standing up. They’re dressed similarly to Soobin and Renjun, light clothing for movement rather than style, but theirs is brown and gray while Soobin and Renjun both wear light blue. School colors, after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The four of them walk through the hall back into the main room again, once again shrouded in darkness, broken up only by small green and purple lights. Soobin takes a step out around the desk, careful to watch his step in the dark, but then it lights up, lanterns turning on. He looks around for Doyoung, but only sees Jaemin. Jaemin’s hands have a faint pink glow around them, so Soobin assumes he must have been the one who turned them on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can do magic?” Soobin asks. He’s naturally curious about everything magic related, and stares at Jaemin’s hands in awe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t?” Jaemin counters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Our school didn’t allow us to learn or observe magic,” Soobin says and Jaemin gives him a strange look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Interesting.” Soobin has no idea what the fuck that means, but Doyoung walks into the room then, giving everyone a dirty look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t think I’d have to see you all until tomorrow,” Doyoung mutters. “But I assume you’re here about food.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yep,” Renjun replies. Doyoung sighs before waving his hands around, green glowing from them until a dining room table appears in the corner of the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go eat and don’t bother me.” Doyoung walks back around the corner and disappears to who knows where, but Soobin is too hungry to really care. He’s the first one to take a seat and sits down, Renjun joining him on his right. Jeno and Jaemin sit across from them, Soobin looking directly at Jeno who’s eyes keep flashing black. Every other blink they shift and it’s quite unnerving to Soobin, but he doesn’t say anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They eat in silence for the most part. Soobin doesn’t really have any care for what he’s eating, but once they are finished, their plates spin until a dessert appears in front of them. Each person’s is different, but Soobin has chocolate cake. It’s probably by chance, but it still brings Soobin back to his childish arguments with Yeonjun. Jaemin has lava cake in front of him and he stares at it for a moment before taking a hesitant bite. Renjun has a lemon bar and he eats it without any of the extra looks while Jeno stares at his cupcake, not even touching it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s no way Doyoung could know that everyone here minus Renjun has some issues with certain forms of dessert. Soobin takes a few bites of his cake, but overall doesn’t finish it. Jeno doesn’t even touch his dessert plate. What on Earth did cupcakes do to Jeno? It’s none of Soobin’s business so he’s left here to wonder while Jaemin slowly eats his lava cake and Renjun polishes off his lemon bar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ready to go back upstairs?” Renjun asks. He doesn’t know why Soobin is now only pushing the broken up pieces of chocolate cake around his plate and doesn’t ask. Soobin nods and leaves his plate where it is, leaving Jeno and Jaemin at the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yep, lets go,” Soobin says. They walk back upstairs and Renjun gets dressed for bed while Soobin stares at his suitcase, wishing that it would just unpack itself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think I’m going to go to bed early.” Renjun yawns. “Even though I napped on our ride here, it’s still been a long day and I want to be ready for tomorrow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s a good idea,” Soobin agrees. “I’ll try to sleep soon, but no promises.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hope you get some sleep for the sake of you not being cranky tomorrow,” Renjun says before crawling under the covers. The last bit of sunlight crawls into their room before the moon rises all the way into the sky. Soobin sits on his bed and stares out the window, hoping the skyline will help him sleep, but he sees something fly through the sky which picks up his attention. It looked almost like a dragon, but that can’t be right because dragons aren’t allowed to freely fly—especially not at night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin blinks and rubs his eyes. He must have imagined that, which means it's time for bed. He climbs under the blankets and pulls the pillow in close, trying to get into the perfect comfortable position. But he can’t get comfortable because it’s slightly stuffy. Fuck it. Soobin climbs out of bed and opens one of the windows a few inches to get some better circulation in the room. Ah, much better. He climbs back into bed and feels himself so much closer to drifting off, but right as he’s about to give into the confines of sleep he hears the window slide open more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sits up in a flash, ready to fight whatever might have moved the window, but instead Soobin sees an oddly familiar figure standing across the room from him. Soobin thinks he’s hallucinating before the figure takes two steps closer and his face becomes clear in the moonlight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yeonjun. It’s him, but his hair is neon green and he has two metal rings in his bottom lip on either side. Even so, it’s Yeonjun for sure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Miss me?” Yeonjun teases and Soobin feels himself close to tears. He runs across the room and wraps his arms around Yeonjun’s waist, unsure that he’s even real.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I missed you so much,” Soobin whispers and Yeonjun pets Soobin’s hair softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know you’re going to want to catch up and learn what’s going on, but I need your help first. There’s this poison that’s killing dragons and I have know where the source of it is, except I can’t get near it,” Yeonjun explains and Soobin furrows his brows pulling his head out of Yeonjun’s chest and looks at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do you know about that?” Soobin asks. “And more importantly, how am I supposed to help you if you can’t go near this poison?” Yeonjun smiles sadly, fingers raking through Soobin’s hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m a dragon shifter.” Renjun rolls over and makes a sound, causing Soobin’s eyes to go wide, afraid they had managed to wake Renjun up. “I know it’s unbelievable, but I kept it from you after I figured out. Also explains why dragons liked you so much. They, like me, like how you smell at a lot.” Soobin wants to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of dragons finding him to be good smelling, but Yeonjun might be right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want to believe you, but you have got to understand why this is hard to believe, right?” Soobin asks. “There aren't even any known dragon shifters left.” That’s because they basically went extinct due to the fact that two shifter dragons have to have a child to create another shifter. So every shifter that had a dragon life or a human life exclusively led to less and less shifters. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know and I would shift for you, but I would break this room apart,” Yeonjun replies. “There’s not a set time limit on this, but I need to get it quickly and destroy it otherwise other dragons will continue to die.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is the poison?” Soobin holds his breath, expecting the worst.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Prince Hueningkai. Don’t you remember how he touched Dandy when we were kids?” Soobin bites his lip. He does remember that, but that doesn’t mean that the prince is the poison.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but correlation isn’t causation,” Soobin points out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He also made another visit when I was ten and visited with Tag. There was a similar negative reaction though Prince Hueningkai did nothing to directly harm her,” Yeonjun says. “And now he’ll only wear gloves in public and never went to any form of dragon school despite the last five princes and his siblings all doing it.” That really does look bad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you saying we have to kill him? Because I cannot get on board with murder,” Soobin whispers. “Even if he’s harming dragons, if he hasn’t touched one since Tag—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think the royals in charge are making him touch them or something because others are having issues and they are all ones that are close to the palace. Either working with knights like you’re going to or as patrols above the castle,” Yeonjun hypothesizes. “Look, I need you to get close to him anyway to see if he touches another baby dragon, and if you’re one of his guards then you can easily get close.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who says I’ll even make the cut?” Soobin doesn’t like the way this sounds, but then he thinks of Dandy and how she died. Poison makes a lot of sense, but the Prince being at the center is an answer that Soobin just hates. He’s never been huge on national pride, but he certainly doesn’t hate it here, in fact he really loves it here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I say,” Yeonjun replies. “I can speak to dragons, so while they are training you to defend in the off case of a dragon attack which would never even happen in the first place without good reason, I can talk to the dragons. They want an answer to this as much as you do and if you succeed in subduing dragons without harming them, you’ll move up the ranks quickly.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soobin,” Yeonjun says, looking directly into Soobin’s eyes. “I love you more than I love the moon and the stars and the sun. I wouldn’t ask this of you if it weren’t absolutely necessary.” And all of a sudden, all of Soobin’s feelings for Yeonjun are back in full swing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you too.” And just like that, Soobin has made up his mind.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next week passes with nothing out of the ordinary. Renjun and Soobin wander around during the day to explore the capital and get to know their surroundings before they are thrown into training. Soobin has no idea how long the training will be because Doyoung won’t answer any questions. All he does is give them more confusing answers, so Soobin and Renjun stopped asking questions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two others who are staying with them at Doyoung’s place are Yeji and Lia, two girls who are way more cutthroat than Jeno and Jaemin. They want to be the absolute best and Soobin can sense it. He’s not usually someone who’s easily intimidated, but they look like they’ll be tough competition. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Though who knows how many new guards the prince needs. According to Renjun, it could be one more or it could be six more and the ranking is pretty much irrelevant. If the prince only needs one or two new guards, then the remaining ones will guard the castle and other places when the prince is visiting, but not actually protecting him. Sort of like being a part of The Prince’s Guard, but with a giant asterisk after it. Still better than being sent to the countryside in Soobin’s opinion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Today is the first day of training, are you ready?” Doyoung asks. Soobin and Renjun are dressed in their usual clothes and Doyoung looks at them with mild disgust. “Also, those outfits won’t do.” Two large pink striped boxes float in through the door and are set at Soobin and Renjun’s feet. “Put those on and then meet me and the others outside in half an hour.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doyoung heads back down the stairs, leaving Soobin and Renjun to stare at the boxes for a moment. Soobin takes the top off and finds something akin to armor, but less clunky and very close to what those in the actual army would wear. Silver and purple skin tight clothing that goes from their necks to their wrists to their ankles along with black boots reaching near the knees and a sort of utility belt that’s empty. There’s a spot for a sword along with other, smaller weaponry, but it's not much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I feel quite exposed like this, not gonna lie,” Soobin says, trying to get a 360 view of himself somehow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You could say that again,” Renjun mumbles. Soobin looks over at him and sees him in a similar situation. “I feel as though people can see every muscle on my body, along with a perfect outline of my ass, but not in a sexy way.” Soobin laughs, feeling the exact same way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure it's practical, at least,” Soobin reassures. “And if everyone is wearing the same thing that makes it less weird.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fair enough,” Renjun agrees. “I just wish it wasn’t so tight that my nipples stick out like little mountains.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I feel you, but again, everyone’s nipples are going to be visible, so it’s like… mutual humiliation. It’s embarrassing for everyone, but since no one is more embarrassed than the other, it’s fine,” Soobin explains, elaborating on his point from earlier. Renjun nods, but bites his lip, crossing his arms across his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, let's go,” Renjun mutters, still not completely on board with the choice in uniform. They walk down the stairs and find everyone already outside. Jeno and Jaemin are in the blue and green version of Soobin’s clothes while Yeji and Lia have the same thing but in orange and pink. Soobin is sure that it’s been less than thirty minutes, but Doyoung still looks miffed that they took a while. Whatever, Soobin can’t wait to be rid of Doyoung. How he and Taeyong even get along is mind boggling to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They all follow behind Doyoung as he walks through the cobblestone streets, robes of dark purple and black, dragging along as he walks. The people that Soobin and Renjun had gotten used to seeing are no longer on the streets, doors and windows are shut tight and Soobin wonders if they know something that he doesn’t. It might be just people being afraid of Doyoung, but that doesn’t explain everything. Why would </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone</span>
  </em>
  <span> be afraid of him? Even among the six of them, Yeji fears Doyoung the least, constantly pestering him about things in hopes of getting a slight edge on the rest of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yeji and Lia are partners, but mainly to the extent that they as individuals want to win and will sabotage the other one without a second thought, but only after taking out the rest of the competition. It’s an oddly specific and scary vibe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They approach the pillars beneath the castle and Soobin tries to get a good look ahead to see what might face them. There’s a pit underneath the castle, one full of dragons and dragon trainers. It’s divided up into sections on the outside with single dragons and trainers, working peacefully together with a much larger center circle area which seems to be an arena of sorts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin’s stomach twists as they get closer until they are looking over the arena. There seems to be no ledge and it simply drops down to the dragon training pen beneath them, but Doyoung makes a point to stick his foot out and try to step down, revealing that there is an outer shield of sorts protecting the people on the outside from the dragons inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your training is very simple today. You will be escorted down there and given several options to defend yourself against dragons. You cannot kill the dragon, nor will the dragon kill you. If you cannot subdue a dragon, it will be quite an embarrassment and look badly to Prince Hueningkai who will be observing all of you very closely. This might be your only day of training if most of you make fools of yourselves, but I doubt it. Most of the time there are three days and each day is different,” Doyoung explains. “You also will have one other with you; the chosen wild card of the crown. Why the crown even gets to pick a random person who just thinks they can join the guard is ridiculous, but what do I know?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No one answers that, assuming correctly that it’s sarcastic and that insulting Doyoung may lead to some form of hexing, which would not be fun for any of them. Doyoung rolls his eyes and directs them all over to a suspicious hatch in the ground which is locked up tight. With a wave of his hands and some mumbling in another language the locks undo themselves and the hatch opens up. Almost like a tunnel, except it's almost vertical instead of horizontal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“One of you gets to go down that first, so volunteer or I’m pushing one of you in.” Even Yeji, despite her being the least afraid of Doyoung, doesn’t volunteer. Granted, the hole is one of dirt and looks unsafe and scary. But Soobin knows he has to go down it, so why not go first and get it over with, while possibly improving his stance with Doyoung.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll go,” Soobin says, drawing everyone’s eyes to him. Doyoung actually looks slightly pleased which is nice, but Soobin still finds him to be a pain, so down the sketchy dirt hole he goes. Soobin stands over it and then sits on the edge, legs hanging in. It looks even darker from above, but Soobin can’t be afraid, so he slides in, not wanting Doyoung to push him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>On instinct, his eyes shut for fear of dirt or other things, but amazingly, Soobin comes to the end of the tunnel and there’s no dirt or anything on him. He stands and looks around the arena, so much more daunting than from above. Just how far had he really come? Soobin steps away from the exit of the tunnel and looks up the side to where Renjun’s face is barely identifiable. That doesn’t give him a number, but it’s large enough to where he doesn’t want to think about it. In the center of the arena there’s a table full of ways to defend himself along with a familiar mop of neon green hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeonjun?” Soobin calls. Doyoung mentioned a wild card, but how on Earth had Yeonjun gotten it? Yeonjun spins around, dressed the exact same as him, but only in black, probably signifying his wild card status. Soobin crosses the arena until he’s standing at the table with Yeonjun. “What on Earth are you doing here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Simple,” Yeonjun replies, smiling and drawing Soobin’s attention to how his metal lip piercings are gone. Probably so no dragon takes a bite of them. That prompts Soobin to wonder if Yeonjun eats metal, but now is not the time to ask as there are others who are about to arrive and probably won’t take well to the idea that Soobin has an unfair advantage and that Yeonjun is straight up cheating. Granted, he’s using his natural abilities, but Soobin has a feeling that the rest won’t see it like that. “Helping you help me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That doesn’t explain how—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who are you?” Lia asks, cutting off Soobin. It’s for the best really though as Soobin didn’t want to finish that sentence in front of her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Yeonjun, the wild card.” Yeonjun extends his hand and smiles at Lia who takes it albeit hesitantly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pleasure to meet you,” Lia replies, letting go of Yeonjun’s hand after a moment. “I’m excited to see what you do in the ring.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Same to you,” Yeonjun says, smiling at her easily. How Yeonjun can make friends so easily is a mystery to Soobin. But whatever, maybe him getting along with Lia will mean she’ll try to sabotage him closer to the end. Soobin still has no idea what exactly is going to happen. Subduing a dragon is no easy feat and it’s likely that at least three of them will fail at it. Maybe Soobin is just being pessimistic, but he really doesn’t think he is. Although only the best of the best should be in the prince’s guard, so maybe someone will surprise him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually everyone gathers around the table, all eyeing the various weapons and defenses but not touching them. Soobin knows he won’t need a weapon, and he shouldn’t even without Yeonjun’s cheating. They’re also all non-magical items. Soobin doesn’t know much about magic, but he recognizes all of these things. He’ll go for the shield just in case. It’s made of metal, which makes it seem like the least effective thing to protect from dragons as dragons eat metal, but Soobin has an idea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Attention.” A voice booms out from somewhere and it’s not a voice that Soobin has ever heard before. He looks around and spots a cut out in the arena where the prince is sitting along with some others. Prince Hueningkai has never properly met Soobin, but Soobin still remembers him clearly from that one visit to the palace. “You see there are things in front of you. Do not touch them until the dragon doors have opened. Then you may grab whatever you can. All dragons will be challenging to subdue in different ways, but their overall difficulty is roughly the same. The first to ease a dragon will be taken out of the ring and given extra assistance if there is another day of training tomorrow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yeonjun could easily be first and he knows it. Soobin knows it too, so he assumes that Yeonjun will go for the advantage. He thinks back to his time in the classroom and in the field to how to calm dragons while keeping his eyes locked on the dragon door directly across the ring from him. Once that even opens an inch, Soobin is going to grab the shield.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a moment, everyone is tense, but then Soobin sees the doors move, grabs his shield and moves away from the others. First he needs to figure out which dragon will be the easiest to work with. His shield is made of iron, so not all dragons will like it. He wants a dragon that’s the same species as Lavender or Queenie ideally, since they really like iron.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin spots a light pink dragon far away from him. That one. It’s hard exactly to explain what makes dragons different species because to the untrained eye, they look mostly the same only with differences in size and color. This pink one is like Queenie and much larger than all the other dragons. Even still, Soobin runs towards the dragon, slowing his speed as he gets closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi there,” Soobin says, trying to project his voice. He’s still a good distance away from the pink dragon, but they look angry and Soobin doesn’t want to be eaten up like a snack. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a lot of these dragons are probably in a bad mood because they were kept in too small of a pen and haven’t gotten food yet today. “I’m here to give you a treat, like a snack.” Most dragons can pick up on certain words without quite knowing the exact meaning. Soobin just has to figure out which one will make this dragon happy. “Food, dinner, breakfast, lunch, brunch, feed—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pink dragon’s head lowers and moves closer to Soobin who takes some steps forward, extending his shield like an offering. They don’t look quite as mad now, which is a relief. Now they’re only ten feet apart and Soobin sucks in a breath before coming within five feet of the dragon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is for you. Feed for you,” Soobin repeats. He lifts up the shield and the dragon takes a huge bite of it, chewing happily. “Aw.” To keep it up, Soobin continues to hold up his food offering. “Yeah, I’m sure you must be hungry, so you can have all of it.” The dragon takes another bite and looks at Soobin, expecting him to do something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Soobin doesn’t do anything. He holds out the last bite of shield to the dragon and smiles. The dragon takes it then nuzzles Soobin’s hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you need something else?” Soobin asks. “I’ll see if I can get you something else, but it might not be as tasty.” Soobin gently holds his hand for the dragon to smell. If he smells good to dragons like Yeonjun said, this might be easier than he thought. “Come with me and let’s check on snacks.” The dragon licks Soobin’s hand who laughs. “Do I smell good to you?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin walks with the dragon into the center of the arena while everyone else seems to be trying to get their dragon to not attack them. Even Yeonjun is rolling around, but Soobin has a hunch he might be just playing with his dragon. For a moment, Soobin’s blood turns to ice when his new dragon pal puts Soobin’s whole arm in their mouth, but the dragon doesn’t bite Soobin. Just like… uses his arm like a lollipop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, I wasn’t expecting that, but go ahead,” Soobin says. They reach the table and Soobin’s arm is dropped. But the dragon won’t come any closer than five feet to the table. It likely has something to do with how the dragon has been trained, so Soobin grabs an iron sword from the table and holds it out, handle first to the dragon who takes half of it into their mouth in one go. “I’m sure that’s delicious.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soobin, what on Earth are you doing?” The voice over the loudspeaker is back and Soobin isn’t sure that he likes it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m subduing the dragon like you said,” Soobin calls back, hoping that someone can hear his reply. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you’re feeding the dragon our weapons.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There were no specified rules,” Soobin defends. “Y’know what, fuck it.” Soobin gives the second half of the sword to the dragon, giving them a scratch behind the ears before turning to the remaining table items. “I know you might want some more stuff, but there isn’t anything else that’s iron.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>To start, Soobin grabs the gold items and carries them fifteen feet away from the table, his dragon watching with interest. Now which one of these dragons likes gold? Soobin glances around and sees Yeji fighting a dragon with silver when the dragon likes gold. Good approach for fighting, but that’s not the goal here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeji!” Soobin screams. “Run over here! Trust me!” Yeji looks at him like he’s crazy but does as she’s asked. Another glance around sees that Yeonjun and his dragon are standing around like their buddies, which they probably are if Soobin is honest. Yeji’s dragon chases after her, clearly not amused by her running away, but once the dragon gets close, Soobin draws their attention to himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The dragon snorts at Soobin, ready to knock him over or worse, but Soobin picks up a piece of gold armor at his feet and pushes it towards the dragon’s mouth who immediately looks happier.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Feed,” Soobin says, which completely shifts the dragon's expression. He looks over at Yeji, who’s out of breath and looking at Soobin with shock on her face. Soobin suddenly feels a bit embarrassed, so he looks away from her and looks around the arena. Yeonjun is looking on with approval.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, Soobin and Yeonjun can be removed from the arena.” Yeji grumbles and heads off to deal with one of the other dragons roaming around. The table in the center of the arena shakes and Soobin walks over to it and so does Yeonjun. It slides away until a pit opens up in front of them. A tube comes up through the pit and opens; an elevator. The door opens and Soobin and Yeonjun enter, looking around it with curiosity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good job,” Yeonjun says. Soobin hopes that Yeonjun doesn’t say anything compromising because while this is just the two of them, Soobin knows that the royals have ways to keep ears everywhere. “I’m honestly impressed that you thought of feeding the dragons.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, thank you,” Soobin replies. They also need to keep this formal because they shouldn’t know each other. “I didn’t see how you subdued your dragon, but they seemed to get along with you quite well.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dragons just get me, what can I say?” Yeonjun’s tone is light and joking and Soobin wants to laugh along with him at the sheer irony of this situation. The elevator reaches the bottom and the doors open to a large lobby-like area with a mini waterfall in the center of the marble floor. It’s a circular room with doors all already the edges. The two of them step into the space and look around, also catching faint light jazz.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where are we?” Soobin asks. Yeonjun seems to know everything about the capital already, so Soobin crosses his fingers that Yeonjun has some explanation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s the place for knights in training. Since training is at max three days it’s like a temporary place to have us stay. If we make the cut we get to sleep in the basement of the castle.” Soobin’s stomach fills with excitement at the idea of being </span>
  <em>
    <span>inside</span>
  </em>
  <span> the castle, raised above the entire capital. Even if the basement is the worst place in the palace to stay, it’s still the palace. Yeonjun clearly sees the excitement in Soobin’s expression and gives him a subtle look of disapproval. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right, they might need to kill Prince Hueningkai. That hasn’t been confirmed as their game plan, but Soobin knows it's a possibility and the idea of being a traitor isn’t one that sits easily with him. Who says the prince can even help the poisoning? Curses aren’t unheard of around here. Magic can be used for evil just as it can be used for good, Soobin knows that much. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do we know which room is for which one of us?” Soobin asks. He’s curious to explore— within reason of course— but the idea of a hot bath is one that he cherishes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m assuming once the others join us, we’ll know,” Yeonjun replies. Soobin hums in agreement and crosses his arms. The air has turned awkward, almost as if Yeonjun can read Soobin’s mind. Soobin knows that he can’t, but the idea still persists. “Has anyone ever told you that you smell really nice?” And just like that the awkwardness is gone, and Soobin is smiling shyly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, someone at school used to tell me that a lot,” Soobin admits, looking over at Yeonjun who’s taken a step closer to Soobin. It’s probably good for them to pretend like they are fast friends so Soobin can express all of his love towards Yeonjun’s return. It still feels surreal to look at Yeonjun right now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before Yeonjun can reply, the elevator makes a noise and opens again to reveal a sweaty Lia. Soobin gives her a quick look over while she walks into the lobby, panting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t ask,” Lia says. “After you two left, the dragons seemed to get more aggressive.” Soobin resists the urge to look over at Yeonjun and try and get some answers for that. “But I got my dragon to chill, so it’s okay. I don’t think the rest are going to appear down here anytime soon.” Lia laughs, short and sharp. “Why are you two still standing around?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No clue who’s room belongs to who,” Yeonjun replies and Lia rolls her eyes at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just walk into one and find out. They’re probably all identical.” Lia walks to the nearest door, the first one on the left and flings it open. Then she walks to the next door and flings that one open. “These look exactly the same, take your pick.” Lia walks into the second door and shuts it behind her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think she’s right,” Soobin mumbles and Yeonjun nods. Yeonjun walks past the open first door and heads to the fifth one, the one thats right across from the elevator. He stops in front of the door and looks back at Soobin with something Soobin could only call longing in his eyes. Soobin walks across the floor towards Yeonjun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I confess something to you, Soobin?” Yeonjun asks, voice soft. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, of course,” Soobin replies.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come into my room with me.” Soobin bites his lip, but follows Yeonjun inside. Yeonjun closes the door behind him and then his expression changes as he surveys the room. He walks into the room, past a closet and bathroom into an open space with a queen sized bed and two nightstands. Yeonjun sticks two of his fingers in his mouth and lets out a dragon whistle. It’s a sound that only very few trainers can make, and a sound that primarily comes from dragons who are about to strike. Soobin has never heard it before, but he’s read about it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why did you do that?” Soobin whispers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Testing if there’s any microphones in here,” Yeonjun replies. “If there were any, they would have come running at that sound to figure out which one of us made it. It’s too much of a valuable skill to ignore.” Soobin nods slowly and watches as Yeonjun’s expression shifts back to the softer one. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin lingers near the door and Yeonjun walks back to him, putting a hand on Soobin’s cheek. His other hand rests on Soobin’s shoulder, looking right into Soobin’s eyes. Once again, Soobin’s soul feels exposed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing?” Soobin asks. His voice is still quiet, but his heart is racing, reminded again of his feelings for Yeonjun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just had to make sure we were safe and that you were going to go along with the plan, and you did. You out-performed my expectations, which means I can trust you,” Yeonjun explains. “I want you by my side until the rest of time.” Soobin’s mind is racing. What on Earth is going on? He never thought that Yeonjun would ever return his feelings— and even if he did, why confess </span>
  <em>
    <span>now?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Yeonjun smiles without his teeth almost looking sad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I knew I had to run away and I wish I could have brought you with me because I love you. I love you in the way that you love someone who means everything to you. Soobin, you are my everything.” Yeonjun swallows. “I couldn’t risk confessing when we hadn’t seen each other in so many years, but it feels as though time has stayed the same for us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you too, I’ve always loved you,” Soobin mumbles, staring back at Yeonjun. “That’s why I’m helping you because I love you more than all the stars in the sky.” Soobin very hesitantly puts his arms around Yeonjun’s waist, hands pressed into Yeonjun’s lower back, bringing him ever closer. Their noses brush and Yeonjun’s breath fans across Soobin’s face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“May I kiss you?” Yeonjun asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, please.” Yeonjun connects their lips, and Soobin immediately kisses back. The hand on Soobin’s cheek slides down his neck and chest, coming to a stop at his waist. Soobin is fully pressed against the wall, but he doesn’t feel trapped, instead he feels free as Yeonjun’s tongue prods against his lips. Yeonjun explores Soobin’s mouth, tongue feeling out every spot so he won’t forget. Soobin pulls Yeonjun even closer, bringing them hip to hip, feeling the urge to throw Yeonjun on the bed and ravish him right now, to make up for all of the time they lost together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As much as I’m loving this, there’s another reason I brought you here,” Yeonjun says, breaking the kiss, but keeping them pressed together while running his thumb over Soobin’s hip bone. The hand on Soobin’s shoulder moves to brush Soobin’s hair away from his face. “Tomorrow is duels. And you get to pick your partner, so I wanted to give you some advice on who to pick.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, so who do I pick?” Soobin asks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you need to pick Jeno. He didn’t do well and while he’s certainly hardcore, I know you can beat him.” Soobin nods, he trusts Yeonjun here. Yeonjun presses another kiss to Soobin’s lips, feeling his heart flutter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t I need to go to my own room?” Soobin asks. He doesn’t want to. He wants to stay here with Yeonjun, but he can’t for the sake of images. Even them just being together right now is a risk. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you do.” Yeonjun pulls away from Soobin, who immediately wants to pull him right back. Soobin takes a step back to let Yeonjun peak out into the circular room. “The first room’s door is still open, go in there.” Soobin nods and slips out and dashes into the first room, closing the door behind him with a soft click. He leans against the back of the door and sighs, he’s going to get some sleep before the events of the day can fully hit him and keep him up all night. Soobin falls asleep within minutes, blocking out any possible worries for tomorrow.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next morning, Soobin wakes up before anyone knocks on his door. He’s hungry is the first thing he’s thinking about, so he stands up, still in his clothes from yesterday and looks around. There’s another outfit exactly like the one he’s wearing, except this one is solid black like how Yeonjun’s had been. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin takes a shower before getting dressed in his new outfit, then heads out into the circular room, surprised to find a table of breakfast foods all around the fountain. Food is food, so he grabs as much as he needs before disappearing back into his room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After finishing breakfast, Soobin lays back on his bed and stares at the ceiling. What time are they going to duel and how did Yeonjun even know the theme of the day a day early? If Yeonjun is right, then it doesn’t really matter how he knew, but if he’s wrong Soobin would want to know who’s supplying him with faulty information. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A knock comes at Soobin’s door and he tells whoever is there to come in. To his surprise, it’s not Yeonjun. Instead, it's Jaemin. Soobin raises an eyebrow and Jaemin rolls his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“According to Jeno, we’re dueling today and I’m willing to offer you a bit of help in exchange for something,” Jaemin says. Soobin sits up properly and looks at Jaemin. This is bound to be interesting. “I have no idea what advantage you’re getting in this, but they are shuffling partners, so try not to get yourself paired with Yeji. Me and her were the last ones to subdue the dragon and she turned to attacking hers to try and force submission. She’s still in an awful mood from that and is likely to skewer you to bits.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what do you want out of this?” Soobin asks. There has to be a catch here. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shuffling partners means that I won’t be with Jeno and my chances of being paired with Yeji are higher than they should be. If you have some sway, don’t let me be paired with her either. Renjun is preferable honestly since he seems like he would be an equal match from what I saw,” Jaemin explains. That honestly doesn’t seem unreasonable to Soobin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, I’ll see what I can do,” Soobin agrees. Jaemin thanks Soobin a million times before leaving. If Soobin were a worse person, he could purposefully pair Jaemin and Yeji together, but Soobin doesn’t even gain anything from that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually they are all summoned to the elevator where all seven of them cram together to fit in. Soobin is pressed shoulder to shoulder with Renjun and chest to back with Lia. It’s not exactly the most comfortable spot, but at least he’s in a corner. Poor Jeno is in the middle of all of them. The doors open and they exit, allowing Soobin to breath properly again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soobin, come to the table alone.” Soobin did not miss the faceless announcer from yesterday at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good morning to you too,” Soobin mumbles. He walks over to the same table from yesterday, now placed twenty feet off center, so no one can lean over Soobin’s shoulder and see what he’s doing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Make the pairings for today’s duels. One will sit out the first set of duels and join the second set of matches.” Soobin nods, staring at the wooden chips in front of him. There’s two blue chips, two purple ones, two orange ones and one black one. At first they are completely meaningless and Soobin is about to make random pairings, but then he remembers the outfits from yesterday. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The black chip is Yeonjun so Soobin sets that one to the side. There doesn’t appear to be a difference between the two purple chips, but there has to be something to tell them apart. Soobin turns them both over in his hands before he spots it. Very faintly on the back of the chips are letters. Each in a different font style, but Soobin knows that the H on one is for Huang and the C is for Choi; Renjun and Soobin’s last names. The problem comes when Soobin flips over the other ones because he doesn’t know the other’s last names. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin and Jeno have and N and an L, so Soobin just has to not pair either of them with Yeji. But which one is Yeji? There’s another C and another H which Soobin would find a neat coincidence, but he doesn’t know which is which. Yeonjun is less strong at dueling than the dragon stuff, so Soobin pairs him with Jeno or Jaemin. Then he takes the other possible Jeno or Jaemin and pairs it with himself. That leaves him with Renjun and Lia or Yeji. Renjun is a much stronger dueler than he appears, so he’s the only one that could probably take Yeji if Jaemin is telling the truth about her skills. Soobin picks the H and pairs it with Renjun, hoping for the best. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The table shakes and Soobin jumps back from it, expecting the worst, but instead little names pop up above each of the chips. It’s Yeonjun and Jaemin, Jeno and Soobin, along with Renjun and Yeji. Lia will be skipping the first round of duels. Ah, fuck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pairings have been made.” God, the voice of the announcer is so annoying. Soobin looks to the same box from yesterday and sees that the prince is there alone. Weird. Everyone walks to the table and looks on the results, some seeming happier about the results than others. “Yeonjun and Jaemin will be the first match so please take a seat if you aren’t one of them.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The arena shakes again and a set of metal chairs appear from where the elevator was. Everyone minus Yeonjun and Jaemin takes a seat in the chairs, Yeonjun sitting in between Jeno and Renjun who’s surprisingly quiet. A dome appears over the chairs, presumably for the same reason there’s a dome on this whole arena.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin looks over at Yeonjun and Jaemin who are standing over the table, now adorned with weaponry. So it’s less of a jousting duel rather than a fight until one of them gives up duel. Neither of them are touching the weapons, but looking them over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please grab your weapon of choice.” Yeonjun goes for the wooden bat while Jaemin picks a sword. It’s a weird choice on Yeonjun’s part, but Soobin trusts that he has something up his sleeve. “You may not select another weapon from now on.” Yeonjun nods and backs away from Jaemin who does the same.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who do you think is going to win?” Jeno asks Soobin. Soobin has no idea if he should be talking to Jeno about this, but saying how another match is going to go doesn’t seem too compromising. Soobin is a completely different fighter than Yeonjun, for many reasons, mainly because he finished school and didn’t go to what Soobin assumes is the School of Hard Knox. Yeonjun has plenty of real world experience that the rest of them don’t have, which might be an advantage, but also a weakness since he doesn’t know what the rest of them know. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I honestly think Yeonjun is going to win,” Soobin says. He doesn’t explain how for obvious reasons, but he really does think Yeonjun will win. Jaemin wanted to be with Renjun, someone who’s far better at dueling than he seems because they would be an equal match, but he really doesn’t know what he was asking for. Soobin could barely beat Renjun back at school when they would do stuff like this on occasion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeonjun seems to know a lot more about dragons and stuff than he lets on,” Jeno muses and Soobin stiffens. “But that’s probably why he was chosen as the wild card.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Soobin agrees. There’s the sound of a bell and the match is started. Yeonjun already is running at Jaemin at top speed while Jaemin holds his sword, ready to defend himself. But Yeonjun does something strange. He runs past Jaemin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin is clearly just as thrown as the rest of them and turns around to follow Yeonjun who’s running all over for seemingly no reason. He makes a large loop until he’s behind the table, that being the only barrier between him and Jaemin. Jaemin takes this opportunity to charge towards the table and flips it, presumably to get the jump on Yeonjun, but that doesn’t happen. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yeonjun swings his bat up, nailing Jaemin right between the legs which makes Soobin press his legs shut on instinct. That has to hurt. Jaemin falters but doesn’t drop his sword. He swings at Yeonjun who dodges and kicks out, hitting Jaemin in the hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin swings his sword again and this time in order to not be hit, Yeonjun stumbles backward, landing on his back. The sword is held right above Yeonjun’s throat and Soobin is sure that Yeonjun is going to give up, but instead he lets go of his bat and grabs the blade with both of his hands and bends it back towards Jaemin, essentially folding the blade in half. Jaemin and the rest of them sitting in the dome all gasp. Yeonjun shouldn’t be strong enough to do that. His hands are bleeding substantially, but Yeonjun picks his bat back up and strikes Jaemin in the side hard. Jaemin tries to defend with some sort of hand to hand combat, but Yeonjun screams and beats Jaemin with the bat not letting up on him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I give up!” Jaemin screams. “Yeonjun wins.” Yeonjun pauses, but has himself in a ready position just in case he has to do something else for him to formally win. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeonjun wins.” Yeonjun screams again, but this time in victory, bloody hands raised in the air. “Two points for Yeonjun and one point for Jaemin.” Points? It honestly makes sense to have points to determine who is doing the best.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have a question for the announcer,” Soobin says loudly. “How many points did we get yesterday?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You got six while Yeji got zero. Use that to figure it out.” Soobin rolls his eyes. Of course he gets a cryptic answer. It’s probably ranking based since Soobin was first and Yeji was last. Soobin starts to track the points in his mind, just in case it may be relevant later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin and Jeno are called out of the dome which disappears temporarily. Yeonjun looks at Soobin with eyes that sparkle with adrenaline and Jaemin doesn’t look at him. The dome closes around the others again and Soobin is left to look at the weapons table. The wooden bat and sword have been returned, but the sword is still bent, making it pretty useless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s a variety of things on the table, but Soobin needs to appeal to his strengths and Jeno’s weaknesses. Jeno is stronger than Soobin, meaning he needs something to catch Jeno off guard. There’s no rule about how much they can take, so Soobin sets his eyes on a dagger and a small pouch of what looks to be a pale yellow powder, also known as quicklime. It’s a more niche thing, and not what many would pick as a weapon by itself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Select your weapons.” Soobin grabs the dagger right as Jeno grabs a lance. He also grabs the pouch of quicklime without Jeno noticing. A tiny bit gets on Soobin’s hand and he already feels it start to itch. “You may begin.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin has an easy plan. All he has to do is get close enough to Jeno to pour quicklime on his upper neck and face. It’ll irritate and burn like hell, so then Soobin can use his dagger as a way to keep Jeno down until he concedes. It’s not a perfect plan, but that’s all he has.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Begin.” Neither of them runs at the other at first. Jeno has a longer range weapon, so he’ll want to take advantage of that. Soobin keeps his eyes locked on Jeno as he fiddles with the pouch, opening the top and holding it so all he needs is to turn it upside down to spill everywhere. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually one of them is going to have to try and attack the other, so Soobin holds his dagger in his hand and moves closer to Jeno, but still out of his range. All Jeno needs to do is make one lunge at Soobin and then Soobin can strike.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno does exactly as Soobin expects and lunges at Soobin which Soobin side steps. He takes a large step closer to Jeno before he can fully prepare for another attack. The quicklime spills a bit and more gets on Soobin’s hand and he pours some on Jeno and it gets on his cheek and nose, causing him to start coughing, but he’s not disarmed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Quicklime reacts with water, so Soobin does an impulsive thing and kicks Jeno squarely in the chest. But that doesn’t do as much as Soobin hopes. Jeno can’t easily use his lance, but he’s not disarmed. Soobin shoves his hand in the quicklime and grabs a handful, before dropping his dagger and the pouch on the ground and closing the distance between him and Jeno. He reers back with the hand that doesn't have quicklime in it and makes Jeno think he’s trying to punch him. Jeno turns his head to the opposite side so Soobin shoves his other hand in Jeno’s mouth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin doesn’t really get his hand all the way into Jeno’s mouth, so he opens his hand and just tries to get as much of quicklime on Jeno’s tongue as possible. Jeno swings the lance blindly and hits Soobin and nearly knocks him over, getting Soobin to at least remove his hand from Jeno’s mouth. Soobin reaches down and grabs the dagger again slashing at Jeno’s thigh. He’s not trying to kill Jeno, just win. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But still Jeno won’t fall to the ground. Jeno is still coughing but he makes a well angled joust and cuts Soobin across his left hip. Pain makes Soobin’s gaze a little fuzzy, but he won’t lose this. He shoves the dagger at the arm that’s holding the sword and Jeno screams falling to the ground. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I give up,” Jeno whimpers, succumbing to the pain. Soobin briefly thinks about how fucked up all of this is, having them bring each other varying levels of close to death to prove themselves. Soobin can barely walk and Jeno is still laying on the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soobin is the winner.” The dome disappears again and Jaemin runs to Jeno immediately. Soobin forces himself to walk back to the metal chairs and drop down. Yeonjun’s hands aren’t bleeding anymore and they look completely fine which is weird.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry, there’s magic in the dome and it’ll heal you,” Yeonjun reassures. Soobin nods, trying to keep his eyes open from the pain. Jaemin helps Jeno back and sits him back down on one of the uncomfortable chairs. Renjun and Yeji are sent out onto the dirt and the dome reappears, healing Jeno and Soobin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Throughout the process, Soobin lets his eyes close, unable to watch the duel. From the way everyone is reacting, Renjun seems to be doing well. Soobin blacks out for a moment and when he reawakens, Renjun is back sitting next him, albeit a bit sweaty. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you win?” Soobin asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I did,” Renjun replies, voice quiet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m proud of you, good job.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks.” Then Soobin, who’s still not feeling quite up to everything, is called back to the table to decide the new pairings. There’s four black chips each with a number one through four on them. Soobin assumes this is point ranking wise. Lia has to be fourth because she hasn’t dueled anyone yet. Soobin knows his first because he won his duel and did the best yesterday. So Yeonjun is second and Renjun is third. Soobin takes a deep breath and thinks through who he wants to be paired with. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Battling against Lia doesn’t sound like fun, but Soobin really doesn’t want to fight with Renjun or Yeonjun. So he pairs himself with Lia then pairs Renjun and Yeonjun. The weapons return to the table and Soobin starts to feel more like himself. Lia walks out of the dome and onto the dirt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’s going to go as hard as she can so Soobin will have to get her when she thinks Soobin is about to give up. They’re directed to grab their weapons and Soobin grabs a morning star. A morning star is a spiked ball on a chain attached to a wood handle and can easily be deadly. Lia takes the same dagger Soobin took and they prepare for battle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lia runs at Soobin much like Yeonjun ran at Jaemin, but she completely knocks Soobin off his guard and kicks him right in the side of the leg before pushing him back without any time to defend himself. Soobin lands on his ass but keeps his morning star in his hand. He swings up, nailing Lia in the thigh, but it doesn’t help as she puts her weight on Soobin’s chest and presses the side of the dagger into Soobin’s neck, but not drawing blood. She’s also trying to get a handle on the morning star so Soobin can’t hit her with it, but Soobin gets one good swing that hits her right in the back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The dagger jolts a bit and Soobin feels himself start to bleed. It’s painful, but it could be worse, so Soobin strikes Lia again, this time aiming for her chest. He makes contact and she’s pushed back, getting the dagger away from Soobin’s neck. Without giving Lia any time to get all the way off of Soobin’s legs, Soobin swings the morning star at her forearm, trying to get her to drop the dagger. It doesn’t work and she holds onto it, so Soobin shoves her off him and onto her stomach, sitting on her shoulders and trying to grab the dagger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Give up,” Soobin grunts. “Or I’ll have to hit you with the morning star again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I dare you,” Lia hisses, wriggling enough to drive her dagger into Soobin’s thigh. Fuck that hurts so bad. Soobin full on sees stars, but he brings the morning star down on Lia’s arm again and then on her other arm. She’s not going to give up easily. The dagger is just out of reach still. In a moment of desperation, Soobin grabs Lia’s ponytail and pulls it as hard as he can, jerking her head back so he reaches out and grabs the dagger. He dropped the morning star in the process and quickly kicks it as far behind him as he can. Soobin holds the dagger to Lia’s throat while his other hand stays locked in her hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Concede,” Soobin says. Lia won’t reply. “She’s clearly lost, can you call it?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soobin is the winner for this round.” Soobin nearly cries and drops the dagger along with Lia’s hair, climbing off of her. His pants are ripped and Soobin can’t stand on his leg. The cost of victory. Someone comes out and carries Soobin back to the dome. Once again, he’s essentially asleep during Yeonjun and Renjun’s match. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Soobin comes to, he’s being called out to the arena to where Renjun is. Soobin walks on shaky legs. Renjun is the only one to not sustain some sort of injury from all of this, which is a testament to how good at dueling he is. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The same table of weapons greets them and Soobin doesn’t know what to pick. He knows Renjun will likely beat him, but he should at least not let himself be pumelled into the ground right off the bat. The dagger seems to be quite helpful, so Soobin decides on that one. When they grab their weapons, they grab similar things, except Renjun’s blade is a few inches longer though not quite a sword. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin still doesn’t feel up to his full strength, but he knows Renjun. He knows where his weak points are at. For a moment, they stay several feet apart, far enough to where neither can strike. Renjun lunges closer and swings his leg out to try and knock Soobin over, but Soobin jumps on Renjun instead, taking them both to the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Renjun hits the dirt with a hard thud, but he doesn’t seem phased at all. They wrestle in the dirt, not even using their blades until Renjun is on top of Soobin. They’re both breathing heavily and Soobin is trying to find a way to strike Renjun when his arm is stuck under Renjun’s leg.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know you’re a traitor,” Renjun whispers. “And you know what traitors get?” Soobin doesn’t even have time to figure out what’s going on before Renjun is stabbing his blade through Soobin’s chest. Right between his ribs and all the way through to the other side. Soobin sees white and lets out the most blood curdling scream heard by anyone in the arena.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Renjun wins.” Soobin feels his mind going fuzzy. He hears the announcement but Renjun doesn’t get off of him. Instead, he twists the blade, causing more waves of pain. Soobin is sure he’s near death at this point and there’s tears falling out of the corner of his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Renjun get off of him before I beat your ass!” Yeonjun screams. Soobin’s eyes open and turn towards Yeonjun’s voice, but his vision is still blurry. Renjun’s weight disappears off of him from Yeonjun kicking Renjun. “I’ll fucking kill you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>From there things get murky. Soobin blacks out and then wakes up possibly days later in the room he’d been staying in. He takes in a deep breath and coughs harshly. His body doesn’t feel quite right and his vision is still a little blurry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soobin?” It’s Yeonjun who looks like a neon green swatch of paint to Soobin’s poor vision. “Hey, it’s okay, sweetheart.” Yeonjun kisses Soobin’s hand and things start to come into focus. He has his piercings in again, but he has a black eye and a bruised cheek.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi?” Soobin slurs, tongue feeling heavy in his mouth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi.” Yeonjun plays with Soobin’s fingers. “I don’t know what you remember, but Renjun stabbed you and basically tried to kill you, which wasn’t necessary. Then I went and beat him up a bit.” Yeonjun looks at the bed for a moment. “He’s not in the greatest shape and because me and him went at it separately from the duels and weren’t going to die, we didn’t get any magic, which is ironic because I could heal myself if I really wanted to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, so now what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You, me, and Renjun are now members of the prince’s guard. Everyone else will be on a slightly lower level of protection but we’re the ones to work with the prince directly,” Yeonjun explains and Soobin would be ecstatic, but then he remembers what Renjun told him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Renjun said he knew we were traitors.” Yeonjun’s face goes pale. “He must have heard us that night.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why didn’t he tell anyone then?” Yeonjun asks, mostly to himself. “The only thing I can think of is that he knows his word isn’t enough to prove that. Especially with the reasoning for our actions. No one would believe I’m a dragon shifter since they basically don’t exist anymore.” Soobin nods, head throbbing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think I need some water,” Soobin mumbles and Yeonjun snaps into action, fetching Soobin a drink in no time. The water is exactly what Soobin needs, but he also feels himself drifting back to sleep, so he sets it on the nightstand. “How are we supposed to get close to the prince if Renjun will be watching our every move?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know yet, but you need to get some more sleep.” Soobin doesn’t fight Yeonjun and lets himself drift back to a dreamless sleep.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Neither Soobin or Yeonjun speak to Renjun. It’s not like he’s making some effort to speak to them either, but there’s a clear animosity between them. They are all stationed in the basement level of the palace and sleep in rooms of twenty soldiers on bunk beds. Soobin sleeps on the bottom bunk while Yeonjun is on the top one, but they are smack dab in the center of the room, so there’s no privacy. Renjun is on the far end of the room and is barely even seen compared to some of the other soldiers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s only men in this set of twenty and there’s a set of twenty women across the hall and that pattern continues around the outer edge of the palace. But only these two sets of twenty get to personally protect the prince rather than work as secondary measures. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first few weeks there are pretty repetitive without anything other than daily mandatory workouts and running tests once a week. It’s not bad, just things to keep them in tip top shape. That is, until the prince announces that he would  be traveling somewhere. Locations aren’t advertised, for obvious reasons of risking the prince’s safety, but Soobin can’t help but be curious about where the prince might be going. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A woman appears in the doorway of the dorm room and everyone snaps to attention when they see her, so Soobin does the same. She looks them all over, taking everything in and Soobin is immediately worried that he’s done something wrong already.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soobin Choi, Yeonjun Choi, and Renjun Huang,” she begins. “I’m Boah Kwon, and the three of you have been personally requested by his majesty to accompany him on his trip.” Soobin isn’t sure that he heard her right. “That means come with me </span>
  <em>
    <span>now.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Soobin scrambles up and Yeonjun does the same. The three of them follow Boah out of the dorm and down the long hallway until they reach a stairwell. “I told his majesty that I should also come with you all considering your lack of experience, but he insisted on it only being you three, so I would like to make it crystal clear that if anything happens to the prince, I will personally put your head on a stake.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin is in utter fear of this woman. She’s clearly one of the highest ranking people in all of the prince’s guard and takes her job very seriously. It also doesn’t help that Prince Hueningkai might have to die and this trip is the perfect opportunity to kill him. Soobin nods and Boah directs them up the stairs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Walk up those until you run out of stair.” They do as asked and Soobin takes the lead with Yeonjun right behind him. Despite their confession of feelings, their dynamic is the exact same as it was at school. Granted, it's not like they can really do anything romantic with each other in such a cramped environment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The stairs truly seem endless. Soobin has been counting them to keep himself from freaking out and he’s already at two hundred and seventy four and there hasn’t even been a break in them. Just endless stairs. But exactly six hundred stairs later they reach a door. Soobin knocks, nervous beyond belief. He has no idea what’s behind that door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, hello.” Prince Hueningkai opens the door and Soobin sees that this is a private study of sorts. The room is circular with a single desk in the middle and doors all along the walls. “Please come in.” The prince stands at nearly the same height as Soobin, dressed in robes of light pink and white with creme gloves that come up to his elbows. The only exposed parts of his skin are his face, ears, and a little bit of his neck. That plays into the idea of him not being able to touch things without a fear of poisoning them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The three of them file into the room and stand there idly, waiting for something to happen. Even though this is a new set of circumstances for Soobin, it feels out of character for the prince, or even royals in general. Why risk safety with three newbies?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You all look so scared, please relax,” Prince Hueningkai says. “I promise I don’t bite.” That does nothing to ease any of their fears and Prince Hueningkai frowns. “I want the three of you to take me to visit the grave of Dandy.” Yeonjun stiffens and Soobin is already predicting the worst.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you mean Dandy the dragon, your majesty?” Yeonjun asks. It’s the most formal Soobin has ever heard Yeonjun speak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you don’t mind my asking,” Renjun begins. “Why did you select the three of us to escort you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because you three are the only ones here who knew Dandy and the others would find it a bit stupid that I want to visit the grave of a dragon. But Dandy was the first dragon I ever met, so she has a special place in my heart,” Prince Hueningkai explains, looking towards the floor. Soobin sees a muscle in Yeonjun’s jaw twitch as he clenches his teeth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No one says anything for a minute, but clearly everyone has more questions. Soobin wants to know how the prince knows about Yeonjun’s time at the academy. He also wants to know why the prince feels so guilty as to want to visit Dandy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure there’s more you want to know, but I want to get there before it's dark, so please come help me prepare things.” Prince Hueningkai opens one of the doors and reveals an elevator of sorts. “This will take us to my carriage. One of you knows how to drive one, yes?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do, your highness,” Renjun replies and the prince nods, walking into the elevator. The three of them hesitantly follow, trying their best not to touch Prince Hueningkai. It’s not like Soobin is on good terms with Renjun by any means, but he doesn’t say anything when Soobin ends up pressed against him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The elevator ride is quick, but Soobin nearly runs out of it to get some of his own personal space. Prince Hueningkai leads them through the dark until he finds a light switch. The room is illuminated and a simple carriage appears in front of them. It’s horse drawn rather than dragon drawn like some of the ones the royals use. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeonjun, you should sit up front with Renjun and help navigate.” Soobin can tell that Yeonjun is not pleased by the decision, but he does as asked. Renjun and Yeonjun walk to the front where two white mares are already saddled in. Soobin, not sure of what to do, opens the door to the carriage for Prince Hueningkai. “You don’t need to do that.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin furrows his brows, but doesn’t say anything. The prince climbs inside and pats the bench there, silently asking for Soobin to climb in after him. Soobin climbs in and hesitantly sits next to the prince, shutting the carriage door behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can feel your thoughts,” Prince Hueningkai murmurs. “Just ask your question already.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why am I sitting back here with you? How did you know Yeonjun went to the academy?” Soobin asks. He still has other questions but those two don’t seem unreasonable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re sitting in the back with me because I don’t trust Yeonjun or Renjun,” Prince Hueningkai replies which then prompts even more questions in Soobin’s mind. He crosses his legs and splays his gloved hands on his thighs. “And I know about Yeonjun for the same reason that I know about Renjun thinking of you two as traitors.” Soobin stiffens. This must be some plot to execute him for treason because why on Earth would Prince Hueningkai want to be alone with someone thought of as a traitor?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That only gives me more questions,” Soobin admits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m aware.” They start moving and Soobin takes a deep breath. This is going to be a long ride. “But I’ll explain more once we reach Dandy’s grave.” Soobin nods and hopes for the best.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>It takes hours to reach Dandy’s grave. The entire time Soobin is jittery, but trying to hide it from the prince, which is quite difficult as they are sitting right next to each other. Prince Hueningkai doesn’t really try to make small talk but comments on things as they pass them. Soobin didn’t reply for fear of the prince not actually talking to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the carriage comes to a stop, Soobin nearly cries. He’s going to get some answers, but there’s also a bubble of anxiety in his stomach for what’s going to happen. Yeonjun opens the side door of the carriage and the prince climbs out first. Soobin follows and takes a look around. He’s never actually been to Dandy’s grave site. They had the funeral on campus and then took her body to be buried in the woods.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s heavy trees and fog everywhere giving it a spooky feel which only makes Soobin more nervous. This seems like the perfect spot for someone to try and assassinate the prince, even if no one knows where he is. Soobin’s neck prickles, the prince mentioned how there’s weapons and extra things in the back of the carriage, but those really won’t really be needed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Follow me,” Prince Hueningkai says. Even only a few feet away his figure is a bit unclear, especially with his choice in clothing. Soobin trails after the prince, looking around for Yeonjun and Renjun but they must not be done dealing with carriage things. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They walk for less than five minutes into the woods before they come upon a grave. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s something at the very least. Based on how Prince Hueningkai spoke about Dandy, this probably wasn’t his choice in gravestone or grave site. The prince kneels in front of Dandy’s grave and starts to talk, but Soobin tunes him out, listening for anything strange afoot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then Soobin hears that sound that Yeonjun made in the arena rooms. The one about a dragon about to strike. Soobin lunges for Prince Hueningkai and knocks him to the ground to try and prevent anything from happening. He looks disheveled, but doesn’t say anything as Soobin scans around.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeonjun, don’t do anything,” Soobin says. “We were talking and I think there’s more to this than we thought.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you talking about?” Yeonjun asks. He appears from the way that Soobin and the prince came, in human form, standing with Renjun. “We were double checking the carriage. What happened?” For a second, Soobin stares at Yeonjun and it's in that split second that a dragon knocks him over with a hiss. Soobin tries to get back up but the gray dragon, not even fully sized, lifts up Prince Hueningkai by the front of his robes. Yeonjun shifts immediately and hisses at the other dragon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’re clearly communicating and Soobin doesn’t know what to do. He looks to Renjun who’s frozen next to Yeonjun who’s turned into a bright yellow-green dragon himself. Yeonjun nearly glows even in the fog. The gray dragon seems to be contemplating whatever Yeonjun said. Prince Hueningkai is pulled in close and given a long sniff which seems to make zero sense to Soobin and Prince Hueningkai who looks like he’s about to piss himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then the gray dragon lets out a sound of immense pain before dropping the prince and shifting back into a person. Yeonjun shifts back as well and Soobin runs towards the prince, Renjun close behind him. Soobin looks him over and sees that he’s okay, just shaken.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I knew I smelled a royal,” the now human says. His hair is the same gray as his scales and his nose is bleeding as he stands on unsteady legs. He lunges at Soobin and knocks him away from the prince and starts tearing at Soobin’s royal uniform. Soobin defends himself and gets out from under the stranger, but it's almost for nothing as Yeonjun and Renjun are carrying away Prince Hueningkai. The prince is more important than Soobin so all he has to do is stall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soobin lands an elbow right to the strangers chest and he coughs, arms turning partially scaled. What the fuck? But that doesn’t seem to help Soobin like he thinks it will. Instead, the stranger uses his stronger, scaled arms to pin Soobin down. He shoves his head in the crook of Soobin’s neck and breathes in his smell, just a dash of blood getting on Soobin’s uniform.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re the real prince,” the stranger mutters and Soobin fucking laughs. The stranger pulls his neck out of Soobin’s neck and looks at him, deathly serious. “You are, and that’s why I need your heart.” He lets out a scream before shifting all the way to a dragon again. Soobin doesn’t have a sword with him or anything, so he has no idea how he’s supposed to get out of this situation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The dragon picks up Soobin in one of his claws and Soobin screams, wriggling as much as he can. A second claw draws back, aiming right at Soobin’s chest. He’s already been stabbed once, he doesn’t need a repeat of that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeonjun! Renjun!” Soobin screams, trying to kick out away from the dragon, but he can’t make contact with the dragon’s chest, so he’s stuck there, unable to do anything and confused. “I’m not a fucking royal. I lived in the countryside my whole life.” The dragon cocks his head, examining Soobin, but not moving his claw out of the position where he can kill Soobin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dragons can smell royal blood,” he hisses, tone much deeper than his actual voice. “Has your friend </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yeonjun</span>
  </em>
  <span> ever said that you smell good before?” Soobin doesn’t answer because he already knows. “That’s what I thought, most dragons who live in the capital don’t know what they are smelling, but it’s royal blood.” Soobin prepares for his death, somehow not aided by Yeonjun or Renjun, but right as the dragon tries to make contact with Soobin’s skin a ripple of magic shoots out from Soobin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay, now really what the fuck? The dragon tries to strike through Soobin’s ribs multiple times, but can’t. Each time he hits that ripple. He drops Soobin on the ground harshly and shifts back to human only he doesn’t shift back all the way. There’s patches of gray scales all over him and one of his eyes is a yellow dragon one. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Seriously, where the fuck are Yeonjun and Renjun? Soobin can wrestle with the stranger much easier now, but the stranger doesn’t hold back and grabs Soobin’s calf biting through the uniform and drawing a hefty amount of blood from Soobin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck,” Soobin mutters, vision going a little hazy, this really isn’t how he wanted to go. With one last kick out at the dragon’s face, Soobin manages to get up and run towards the carriage with all of his speed, which isn’t much with the fact that his leg is bleeding everywhere. He reaches the carriage and sees Yeonjun at the front, waiting for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soobin, what the fuck?” Yeonjun asks</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You thought I could handle that?” Soobin feels himself getting dizzy. “Just go. I can’t climb up and I think I’m about to—” Soobin doesn’t get to finish his sentence as he faints.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>This is getting old. Fainting and blacking out is not fun and Soobin always comes to in situations where he has no idea what’s going on. The stranger is tied to a tree and so is Soobin, which makes no sense. Looking around groggily, Prince Hueningkai is tied to another tree as well as Renjun. Yeonjun paces between them, looking around nervously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I need some fucking answers from one you,” Yeonjun demands. He’s shaking, but Soobin is afraid of what he’s going to do which is a feeling he’s never felt before in relation to Yeonjun. “Hueningkai, you start.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The royal family knows that I’m poison to dragons. They’ve told me for a long time that there was something wrong with me, but I only started wearing gloves at age ten,” Prince Hueningkai explains, sounding close to tears. “I never thought anything bad would happen, so that’s why I wanted to come here and apologize to Dandy.” Yeonjun is shocked that he was right, but also looks a little sad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s wrong,” the stranger grunts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t even know your name, so your words mean very little to me,” Yeonjun replies, snorting. “You tried to attack my friend and are throwing all sorts of wrenches into the explanation that makes the most fucking sense.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Taehyun, and there’s more going on than you could realize. The prince isn’t poison. He isn’t even the prince and you should know that. What does Soobin smell like to you?” Taehyun asks and Yeonjun is caught off guard. “Look, I have my own reasons for this and you need to put the pieces together before I can explain.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He smells like lavender,” Yeonjun admits. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To me he smells like chocolate. But if you have either of the humans smell him, they’ll say he smells like one of them.” Yeonjun doesn’t want to trust Taehyun clearly, but with the way he’s playing with his sleeve, Soobin thinks he might be considering it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Renjun, what does Soobin smell like?” Yeonjun asks. Soobin leans his head back against the tree. This is ridiculous. The way he smells doesn’t change the fact that he’s not a prince. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He smells like a person—I don’t know where you’re getting lavender and chocolate from,” Renjun says. Yeonjun walks over to Soobin and smells his hair again, but Soobin doesn’t make eye contact with him. Soobin was tied up like the rest of them, his history with Yeonjun clearly not enough to prove that he has no idea what the fuck is going on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck, he still smells like lavender.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can we shut up with how I smell?” Soobin asks, tone biting. “Let's take Taehyun at his word for now and move on. I’m the real prince or whatever. Which means that it’s not something to do with royals that’s poisoning the dragons.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re kind of right,” Taehyun says. “I’m not a normal shifter and Yeonjun knows that just from how I shifted.” Soobin looks at Yeonjun who nods slowly, looking at Taehyun. “I was </span>
  <em>
    <span>bred</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be a shifter by the royals, and I have a friend, Beomgyu, who has it even worse than I do. He’s constantly stuck in between human and dragon and in so much pain all the time—” Taehyun’s voice catches and Soobin feels his heart begin to hurt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you need the heart of a royal to try and save him?” Soobin tries to finish. Taehyun nods.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s no guarantee that would even work, but that’s the only way for a dragon to get any sort of boost to help them,” Taehyun explains.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s Beomgyu?” Renjun asks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hidden away from everyone else within the capital.” Soobin frowns. Taehyun’s explanation makes the most sense here. How could a human even poison dragons to begin with?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So the royals fucked with dragons, trying to put more magic in them and also tried to make shifters,” Soobin begins. “Me and Prince Hueningkai were baby swapped or something at birth, there’s no actual poison, the Prince has been lied to his entire life and Yeonjun only dragged me into all of this so he wouldn’t get poisoned himself. Tell me if I’m forgetting anything.” For a moment everyone is quiet. “Oh, and Renjun tried to kill me because he overheard said conversation with Yeonjun.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soobin, I—” Yeonjun starts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Save it,” Soobin snaps. “At least Taehyun had a decent reason for wanting to kill me. Though I honestly think the heart thing is a myth or at the very least doesn’t apply, but if you take me to Beomgyu and that’s the only option, I’ll give him my heart.” Taehyun laughs and then immediately quells it. “Now untie me for fucks sakes. No one is going to try and kill each other until we meet Beomgyu.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No one has a better plan, so Taehyun and Soobin sit up front while Renjun and Yeonjun ride in the actual carriage with Prince Hueningkai. Despite not actually being the prince, Soobin can’t help but still address him as Prince Hueningkai in his mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you for standing up for me even though I tried to kill you,” Taehyun says once they are exiting the woods. Soobin snorts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I get the feeling that you need to do everything in your power to save someone,” Soobin replies. “It’s how I feel about Yeonjun, for the most part. Even though I’m ridiculously pissed off at him right now.” Taehyun nods.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If not the heart thing, then do you have any idea what else we could do for Beomgyu because he’s just—you can really see that he’s suffering and it didn’t used to be this bad.” Soobin taps his fingers on the tops of his thighs, bite wounds still hurting quite a bit, thinking through everything that they could try.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Honestly, the only thing I can think of is going to Doyoung Kim. He’s a witch and might know of some magic that can help us heal Beomgyu. There must be something because even if this particular case hasn’t happened before, magic literally comes from dragon scales so there should be something,” Soobin reassures. He doesn’t have any guaranteed answers and can know how scary that is, but he also doesn’t want to lie to Taehyun and get his hopes up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They ride the rest of the way back into the capital with Taehyun telling Soobin stories about Beomgyu as a kid and Soobin throwing in a few of his own along the way. He tells Taehyun about Yeonjun’s obsession with chocolate cake as a kid and how they would argue about it which makes Taehyun laugh. And in turn, Taehyun tells Soobin about how he and Beomgyu first learned to shift and how they couldn’t figure how to shift into clothes for the longest time which would always end up being embarrassing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually they reach the outskirts of the capital and Taehyun stops the carriage at a small house that looks almost abandoned. Taehyun directs everyone else to stay in the carriage as people tend to scare Beomgyu, but Soobin comes along with him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Beomgyu?” Taehyun calls after opening the door to the house. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m upstairs.” They walk through the house until they reach a stairwell which Taehyun walks up first. Taehyun walks through an open door into a bedroom and Soobin follows, but once he’s in through the door, his eyes lock onto Beomgyu immediately, in that same half and half state that Taehyun was in earlier. “Who’s that?” Beomgyu sits up hesitantly, red scales glinting in the setting sun’s light.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Soobin and I’m here to try and help you,” Soobin says. He doesn’t really know what else there is to say to Beomgyu, so he hopes that’s enough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why do you smell like honeysuckle?” Beomgyu asks. Soobin looks to Taehyun for a second, unsure as to what to say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m also the real prince.” Beomgyu’s eyes go wide and he looks almost afraid. “But don’t worry, Taehyun and I know someone who might really be able to help you. The prince thing is a complete coincidence.” That seems to put Beomgyu’s fears a little bit at bay. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re going to have to meet some new people though,” Taehyun prefaces. Beomgyu just looks so happy that there could be a solution, that he doesn’t even seem to care about meeting new people. He stands on shaky legs and Taehyun goes to wrap his arm around Beomgyu’s waist to support his weight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They head back out of the house and Soobin gets Yeonjun and Renjun out of the carriage, who take position up front. Soobin tells them to go to Doyoung and while Renjun frowns at Soobin, he doesn’t say anything. Soobin, Beomgyu, and Taehyun climb into the carriage with Prince Hueningkai and Soobin can tell that the prince doesn’t want to say anything, but he still looks at Beomgyu with a bit of fear in his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where are we going?” Prince Hueningkai asks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To see Doyoung,” Soobin replies. “He’s the one who temporarily housed us before we came to you for training.” Prince Hueningkai nods.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I knew his name sounded a bit familiar.” And then they are off. It doesn’t take more than half an hour for them to reach Doyoung’s place. The sign is familiar and Soobin is almost glad to see it. He climbs out first and tells everyone to stay put for a moment just in case Doyoung isn’t home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once again the door is ajar and this time Soobin walks in without any care for Doyoung’s dramatism. These are special circumstances. Everything is dark and Soobin takes two steps into the front room before he’s flung upside down. The green and purple lights come on and Soobin finds himself staring at Doyoung upside down. His left left is tied with rope that’s supporting his weight and dangling him over the floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was wondering when I would be seeing you next,” Doyoung says from behind his desk. “What do you want?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I need you to do magic to help a shifter dragon,” Soobin replies and that actually makes Doyoung falter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A shifter dragon?” Doyoung repeats and Soobin nods. Hanging upside down really isn’t fun and he can feel all the blood rushing to his head, so he tries to explain everything to Doyoung as quickly as possible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Any questions?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Surprisingly none. I assume everyone else is outside. I’ll bring them in before tossing in my two cents of knowledge.” Doyoung stands and walks around Soobin, heading outside. Well, fuck. Within a minute though, everyone comes in, all with different reactions to Soobin hanging from the ceiling. Beomgyu looks the most put off by it, staying curled into Taehyun’s side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is someone going to untie Soobin?” Renjun asks. Soobin has no idea if they are in a better place now with more context between them, but the memory of Renjun’s blade between his ribs still isn’t a fond one. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” Doyoung replies, sitting on the top of his desk, robes hanging past his feet and grazing the floor. “So Soobin filled me in, so I’ll fill in a few more gaps for you. I put the protection spell on Soobin just in case because I knew he was the real prince because I’m also a shifter dragon.” Every word out of Doyoung’s mouth makes Soobin’s jaw drop further, though because he’s upside down the effect isn’t the same. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What does Soobin smell like to you?” Yeonjun asks. He’s the only one to have completely zero fear of Doyoung, somehow less so now that he knows about Doyoung also being a shifter. Doyoung rolls his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The smell thing is so strange to me. It has to do with your relationship to the person, but it’s not a one to one symbolism thing. To me Soobin smells like vanilla and the holidays because he reminds me of my younger brother who I share fond seasonal memories with,” Doyoung explains. “Think about the meaning of the actual thing you smell rather than Soobin because he is just a person and a gross human.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know if I should be offended by that or not,” Soobin mumbles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, so I see what we need to do for you.” Doyoung turns his attention to Beomgyu. “The only way I know to cure this is to make you fully human meaning you can’t shift again.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s fine, I would rather be one way or the other rather than half and half,” Beomgyu replies. As if on cue, his body convulses and his arm morphs into that of a dragon rather than just a human with scales. Doyoung walks to Beomgyu and uses his magic to levitate him up. Doyoung’s desk turns into a hospital bed and Beomgyu is placed on it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doyoung also lowers Soobin to the ground who pulls the rope off of his leg and tries to get his balance back to the way it should be. Everyone holds their breath for a moment as Doyoung examines Beomgyu. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soobin, come here,” Doyoung directs and Soobin does as asked. “I’m going to need to carve two symbols into your palms to make this work. I really hope you’re not squeamish around blood.” Soobin swallows harshly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can handle it, don’t worry.” Doyoung nods and produces a blade and Soobin holds his hands palm up to Doyoung.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to do your left hand first and then your right,” Doyoung says. “And then you’re going to place your hands on either side of Beomgyu’s face. Left hand on his right and right hand on his left.” Soobin nods. “Then I’ll perform the spell. It will feel like your hands are burning but you’re fine, there is no actual damage done to you through this.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, do it.” The symbol carving hurts so much more than anything else Soobin has been through. How it hurts more than literally being stabbed he doesn’t understand, but assumes it has something to do with the fact that this involves magic. Once Doyoung is done, Soobin places his hands on Beomgyu’s face like he was told to and it doesn’t hurt at all for a second.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then Doyoung starts to mumble things and move his hands around. Soobin screams. It feels as though his veins are trying to escape out through the cuts on his palms. All he can do is wait with his eyes squeezed shut for Doyoung to finish and for the pain to subside. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doyoung stops talking so Soobin forces his eyes open and looks at Beomgyu who is nearly human. There’s a few faint scale marks on him still, but it’s nearly over. Beomgyu looks at Soobin, crying silently, but not out of sadness. He smiles at Soobin and Soobin feels his heart warm. The pain dissipates and Soobin removes his hands from Beomgyu’s face. There’s residual blood on his face but Beomgyu looks so happy and throws his arms around Soobin as a form of thanks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> much,” Beomgyu whispers. “You have no idea just how much this means to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, so now that that has been dealt with what are we doing about the fact that we have the current legal prince here and eventually someone is going to come looking for him?” Doyoung asks. “I’m not really looking to get arrested for kidnapping.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know what to do,” Prince Hueningkai says. “But I’m not the actual prince, so I don’t want the title. The royals have done nothing but lie and use me.” Hueningkai pulls off his gloves and drops them on the floor. “I have no idea if Soobin wants to be the prince, but I sure don’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well someone has to stop the royals from breeding dragons still,” Yeonjun adds on. “How are we supposed to do that without someone on the inside?” Soobin feels Yeonjun’s unasked question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If there’s a way to transfer over power then I’ll accept the job as prince, but I don’t know that anyone will even believe I’m the prince,” Soobin points out. He wouldn’t mind being a prince as a way to make changes to improve the capital and even the whole nation, provided… “But I’ll only do it if Yeonjun can come with me.” Yeonjun’s eyes go wide and he looks at Soobin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll look into things, but for now, your maje— Hueningkai,” Doyoung begins. “Do you need to be back home within the hour or more like before tomorrow morning?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The latter, I said I might return quite late, so we have some time,” Hueningkai says. “Let me help you look and see if there’s a way we can figure this out.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s rooms for everyone to sleep in that way.” Doyoung points down the hall. “Soobin should also probably sleep soon because the spell is quite draining.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soobin, can I talk to you for a minute?” Renjun asks. Yeonjun, Beomgyu and Taehyun take Renjun’s tone to mean that they should go and pick rooms for themselves. “I wanted to apologize for everything.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me too,” Soobin replies. “This is so much more messy than it should have been and I had no idea Yeonjun would even show up and then with everything else—I know why you thought of me as a traitor.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hope we can go back to being friends. I know it will take time to mend our friendship, but I’m willing to put the work in.” Soobin feels his eyes water up. Maybe he’s especially emotionally raw from this whole experience, but he pulls Renjun in for a bone crushing hug. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m willing to put in the work too.” They break apart and head back to the rooms. Renjun takes Jeno and Jaemin’s old room while Soobin pokes his head into Lia and Yeji’s old room. Taehyun and Beomgyu are curled together on one of the twin beds, looking happy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just came to pop in and see how you’re doing,” Soobin says. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I haven’t felt this good in so many years,” Beomgyu replies. “It’s like I’m a whole new person.” Soobin smiles, happy to have at least helped Beomgyu in this mess. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you for healing him.” Taehyun fiddles with Beomgyu’s fingers. “Words truly can’t express how grateful I am for you doing this. And if all goes well and you become the crown prince, then I’ll join your guard and protect you with my life.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, that’s so…” Soobin is reeling for a moment. “That’s something truly selfless, Taehyun.” Soobin says goodbye to them before walking up the familiar narrow stairs to his old room. There he finds Yeonjun lounging on his bed, clearly trying to kill time until Soobin came upstairs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, Soobin,” Yeonjun begins. “I’m really sorry for not trusting you.” Soobin is far too tired to stay mad, so he comes and curls into Yeonjun’s arms. They barely fit on the bed together but they make it work.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay. It’s all going to work out so it’s okay,” Soobin whispers. “I’m far too tired to stay mad. Now there’s a clear course forward so I can rest for a few hours before setting out on our next quest.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s our next quest?” Yeonjun asks, fingers weaving through Soobin’s hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Getting our rhythm back to save the dragons who are still being bred. I’ll take over and with you by my side, there will be nothing we can’t accomplish.” Yeonjun presses a kiss to the top of Soobin’s head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you’re right, but I’d also like to properly fall in love with you too. To be your consort and the person you spend your mornings, afternoons, and nights with. I already know I love you, but I don’t have any practice of acting on my love for you,” Yeonjun says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have no problem changing that.” Soobin tilts his head up and lets his lips brush Yeonjun’s before coming together in a proper kiss. “I want to get to that place with you two, but it’ll take time for us to reach our best.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And I’m willing to put that work in for you.” Their lips lock again and Soobin feels so many emotions. There’s still so much more to do, both within the kingdom and within his own relationships, but that will take time and can’t change overnight. All they can do is keep moving forward, and for Soobin, as long as Yeonjun is taking that step with him, he knows everything will work out in the end. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <a href="https://twitter.com/occultclysms">Twitter</a>
  <br/>
  <a href="https://curiouscat.qa/carrotyeol">Curious Cat</a>
</p></blockquote></div></div>
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